


isn’t shazam an app that detects songs?

by zommijin



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Shazam! (2019), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Billy lives in New York now, Confused Billy Batson, Confused Freddy Freeman, Confused Peter Parker, Confusion intensifies, Fluff, Gen, MCU & DCEU Crossover, No I probably wont, Portal doors, SHUSH, Slow Updates, This summary is shitty I’ll change it later, bc I wanted peter n billy to interact, i don’t know what’s going on eithee, im not kidding lmao, no one really knows what’s going pn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2020-09-08 04:20:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20308369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zommijin/pseuds/zommijin
Summary: Billy was just trying to win a game of hide and seek in the Shazam lair.However, he ends up wandering through a doorway and replaces the Billy in an alternate universe where Superman and Batman don't exist but Iron Man does instead.He doesn’t have the support of his Shazamily to back him up when he gets into trouble. He does however, have a best friend named Peter Parker. Who’s also apparently a vigilante called Spider-Man.- - -aka an excuse to write my two favourite teenage superheroes togethEr!! also currently under revision !!





	1. bad idea

**Author's Note:**

> crossover time crossover tiMEEE
> 
> I honestly really loved Shazam?? First dceu movie ever watched and it was v good. Spider-Man: FFH also good. So why not throw the two movies together?
> 
> Also Shazam/billy doesn’t have the ability to teleport out bc convenience

In hindsight, maybe playing hide and seek in the Shazam Lair wasn’t the best idea.

But at the moment it had seemed like a really fun idea, so there Billy was, running down a dark stony path as his normal teenaged self. He and his siblings had agreed on playing without the interference of their powers, as some of them may have more of an advantage than others. 

His legs at the moment however strongly disagreed with that rule. It would’ve been _so _much easier to get around if he was allowed to fly, but no, they made the rule. He wanted to collapse and roll around on the ground and scream, but he wanted the satisfaction of winning. If he won, he didn’t have to do any of his own chores for two weeks! It seemed like a pretty sweet deal. 

He heard Darla's voice echoing off the rocky walls as she neared the count of sixty. 

"—Fifty-three, fifty-four..." 

He quietly cursed to himself, realizing he had six seconds to find an appropriate hiding spot. Unfortunately, the tunnel he had chosen to run down didn’t seem to have much hiding spots to offer.

"—Fifty-six! Fifty-seven!" Darla's voice grew more excited. 

He turned a corner, and found himself standing in the part of the lair that had all the door portals. 

"Fifty-nine! Sixty! Ready or not, here I come!" Darla squealed in the not-so-far distance. 

_Risks had to be taken_, Billy decided. 

(In retrospect, though, going through a door portal to avoid being found in a game of hide-and-seek was a pretty stupid idea.)

He yanked open the nearest door, and ducked into it. 

\- - - 

Billy tumbled out of a familiar closet. 

"What the—?” He mumbled, sprawled out on the floor. So there _was _a portal that was from the lair to their house. 

"Billy?" Shoot, it was Darla. How did she find him so quickly?

"Ahh, you found me!" He said lightheartedly, doing small jazz hands. 

"Are you... okay? I heard a loud thumping sound." Darla replied, tentatively. She scooted closer to him, then finally came into his frame of view. She sounded reluctant to continue, which was definitely a huge un-Darla like thing to do. "I just wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt or anything."

He sat up, scratching his head. "Yeah, of course I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be?" He affectionately patted her head as he stood up. 

Darla froze at the contact, looking curiously at him. "You... Patted my head?"

"Uh," Billy cocked his head, "because... I can?" 

"Who are you and what did you do to Billy?" She smiled and gave him a hug. 

"Let’s go find everyone else," Billy grinned. He went to open the closet door and swung it open to only find... brooms. Where did the portal go? He stared at the interior of the closet, waiting for the dusty wooden floor to shift into the rocky cavern of the lair.

"I don’t think you’ll find anyone in the broom closet, Billy." He could feel Darla's eyes burning into his back. "Are you sure you’re feeling okay? You’re acting funny."

"Die, die, die!" Eugene's familiar gaming cries rang out from the living room, followed by Freddy groaning in protest, "Why do they always target me?!”

Billy spun around to face Darla, feeling confused. "Did you guys finish the game of hide and seek already?" 

Now it’s Darla's turn to look even more confused. "We weren’t playing hide and seek. Billy, what are you talking about?"

Billy's head spun. What was going on? 

He wandered into the living room, unsure of what trickery Darla was pulling on him. Maybe Freddy would tell him what was going on. 

"Dude,” He squished himself onto the couch next to him. "Did you guys finish hide and seek?" 

Freddy slowly looked up at him, away from the laptop screen. His eyes narrowed, and the death of his character chimed. "What do you mean?" He asked, looking suspicious. He scooted away from Billy, creating more room. 

"What do I mean?" Billy awkwardly laughed, "We were all playing a huge game of hide and seek in the lair? Winner gets no chores for two weeks? C'mon dude, why are you guys acting so weird?" He pursed his lips, the absurdity of the situation getting to him. 

"What game of hide and seek?" Freddy now looked as confused as Darla had. "And since when did you start referring to me as 'dude'?"

"Never mind,” Billy blurted, head spinning. Was he the one who was tripping hard? No one else remembered anything. “I’m just— just going to go upstairs. Never mind.” 

He turned and dashed up the stairs to his and Freddy's room.

"Hey— wait!” Freddy yelled at him, but he paid no attention. 

Billy pushed their door open, ready to flop over and take a huge nap, and paused.

The epic Justice League poster he had bought for Freddy was missing from its spot on the wall. Instead, another poster was there, with a caption titled 'Avengers: Assemble', with what was perhaps another team of superheroes.

In fact, a lot of Freddy's superhero memorabilia was missing from their usual places. There were other artifacts in their place instead. Like instead of the batarang replica they’d painstakingly recovered from the Shazam lair, there was an... iron glove thing of sorts? He slowly walked around the room, head pounding. 

Freddy came barging into the room, wobbling on his crutches. 

"Hey, where’s all your Justice League stuff?" Billy asked confusedly, gesturing around. "Where’s the batarang? We spent way too much time recovering that from the cave for you to just throw it away."

"Justice League? What the hell is that? Some sort of knock-off Avengers?”

”Who is the Justice League? What— when did you even decorate our room?” Billy stared at the huge Avengers poster, wishing if he looked long enough, Superman would magically replace the character in the centre. 

"Man, what are you talking about? Decorating? This room has been like this for forever! Hide and seek? 'We'? We barely ever spend any time together whatsoever! I don’t understand what you’re going on about! Darla is so confused right now, and so am I." 

"This isn’t funny, Freddy!" Billy frowned. "Captain Sparklefingers? Red cyclone? Any of that ring a bell to you?" He tried. 

Freddy continued to stare at him as if he were an idiot. "Um, are they supposed to? Look, you’re freaking me out." 

"We were playing hide and seek, dude! In our secret lair?" Billy paced towards Freddy, "Why aren’t you remembering anything!" 

"I don’t understand, Billy. I really don’t," Freddy nervously backed up, "We rarely even talk! What are you going on about?" 

“Wait, you don’t remember anything? Nothing about Shazam—"

A flash of lightning filled the room. Freddy let out a loud screech.

When the smoke cleared, and where Billy once stood, now a spandex clad, caped crusader towered over Freddy. 

"Holy mother of god, you’re a superhero?!" Freddy’s mouth fell open. 

"...You don’t remember?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> huh the chapter notes deleted themself ok fine b like that
> 
> We'll never know what I originally wrote herE 
> 
> dint forget to kudo n comment B))


	2. we don’t talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woo! Ch 2 here we come !1! this one is more like cracky bc my brain cells are running out since school starts soon TT

"What do you mean 'you don’t remember'?" Freddy air quoted this with his fingers. "Dude, you barely ever talk _to _me! Plus of course I would remember one of my siblings were a superhero!" His voice grew higher and squeakier as he goes on.

"What do you mean I barely ever talk to you?" Billy hissed back. "I talk to you, like, everyday?! We were getting along just fine and we were playing hide and seek in our lair and then I went through one of those doorway portals— oh." 

Things started rapidly falling into piece, as he trailed off. 

"You're from an alternate dimension." Freddy whispered, his eyes boggling. At this rate of rapid eye growth his eyes would fall out of their sockets after a few more shocks. 

"I’m— I'm from an alternate dimension!" Billy yelped. "I—I... Well, shit."

"I knew alternate dimensions existed. I knew it." Freddy began to pace around in a circle, his crutches thumping against the floor in a steady beat. "But, if you're Billy from another world, where’s our Billy? Is he living your life now? Did you guys magically switch places? Can only one Billy exist inside a world? And what— how did you get these powers? Oh my god, I have so many questions!" 

Billy's brain began to hurt. "Well, I wish I could answer those questions because I have no idea myself." 

The door suddenly creaked open to reveal Darla standing there. "You guys are so loud. You better not be fighting again—“

Then she caught sight of Billy in Shazam form. “Freddy, why do you have a strange man in your room? Is he your friend? Why does he have a cape?" Then her eyes light up. "You're a superhero, right? Like Spider-Man?" 

Billy attempted to think fast. "Well, hello there Freddy's little sister who I’ve definitely never seen before. My name is Captain Sparklefingers. Ta-da!" He tried to make some sparks appear between his fingers but instead accidentally zapped the other Billy's— his?— blanket, and it promptly caught on fire. 

He stomped on it as casually as he could, painfully smiling widely, eye twitching.

Darla didn’t seem to mind that much, and crushed him with a big hug. “Hi! I think you’re very cool. I’m Darla.”

"Well, nice to meet you Darla." Billy's brain is starting short-circuit. What was he supposed to do? He twisted his head and made awkward eye contact with Freddy who was by the window. 

"Where’s Billy?" Darla asks after peeling herself away from Billy. 

He quickly turns around and stares at Freddy, gesturing with his hands, trying to explain _think of a lie_ in rapid hand movements. 

"He— um, he climbed out the window?" Freddy supplies, scratching the back of his head. _What? _Billy mouthed. Freddy shoots him a look that probably meant _just go with it. _

"Uh, yes!" Billy exclaims clapping his hands together, he wheels on his foot to face Darla. "I, um, caught him before he could get hurt. He ran away. Yeah, somewhere in the city probably? I came in to check on my best bud Freddy, see how he's doing, yeah?" 

Darla looks sceptical for a moment but then deflates. "He ran away again? Earlier he was being really, really nice to me though. He acted as if we were siblings for a little bit."

Billy felt a small pang. 

So his alternate dimension personality was exactly how he used to act. Rude, someone who pushes everyone else away and probably still trying to find his mother who didn’t love him back. 

"Hey— Hey, look." He crouched down, and gently rests his hand on Darla's shoulder. "I know it probably doesn’t seem like it, but deep down, your brother Billy really cares about you." 

"Yeah, I know." Is all Darla mumbled in reply.

"Hey!" Freddy suddenly interrupted as the sound of the front door opening was heard. "I think that’s mom! She said she was going to buy us all ice cream today, if we make sure to help her carry the— the groceries!" 

"Ice cream!" Darla's eyes brighten. "See ya, Captain Sparklefingers!" She dashes out of the room, and they can hear her tiny footsteps thundering down the staircase. 

Freddy quickly closed the door and locked it. 

"Holy shit." He said. "That was one of the weirdest lies I've ever told." 

"I know right?" Billy said, staring at the door. "Can’t believe we carried out that ridiculous story. Climbing out the window seemed quite dramatic."

_Ding! _

A phone lit up on a desk, and several more notifications follow. "Huh, you’re pretty popular." Freddy said, pointing at the phone. 

"No way! I have my own phone?" Billy picked up the device. "Oh my god! I have my own phone!" 

The notifications were all from someone named Peter.

**peter**

_omgomgomg tony flipping stark was in my apartmenT!!!!!!_

** billy **

_NO FRIGING WAY_

Billy scrolled further down, curious to see what relation other him had with Peter.

Many of the messages seemed cryptic, with mentions to someone referred to as 'you know who', and messages that were probably written in code.

**peter**

_AHHH OK IM GOING TO AN AIRPORT WITH U KNOW WHO EEEEEE_

_i made a lil travel vlog to show u HOW GREAT IT WAS!!!! _

_filmbypeterparker.mp4_

He made a mental note to watch the video later and went down to one of the more recent conversations.

**peter**

_hey u ok?_

_u know I’m always here for u _

**billy **

_I’m fine_

**peter**

_when u use proper capitals n grammar you’re not fine !!_

_answer my call ok?_

"Who’s Peter?" Billy asked, staring at the messages. "What are we? Best friends? Cousins? Boyfriends?" 

_“_Peter, is other you’s only friend." Freddy quipped. "I don’t really know much else. Other Billy didn’t let me hang around with them that much. Peter's nice though, we sometimes talk. He also messages me to check on other you a lot." 

An alert for an incoming message suddenly appeared with a loud ping. He scrolled all the way down. 

**Peter**

_Darla just sent me a message in roblox_

_she says u ran away again? and u jumped out the freaking window?!?!_

_pls tell me ur ok!!!!_

_dude I’m gonna go find u, ur at ur usual spot right? _

The screen lit up with an incoming phone call, the phone vibrating. He and Freddy stare at the phone, and both made no attempt to answer the call. 

**peter**

_pls pick up I’m worried :(_

"He’s willing to go look for me in the busy streets of Philly? We must be really close." Billy muttered, squinting at the screen. 

"Philly? As in Philadelphia?!" Freddy asked. "We're in New York City!” 

"What?!” Billy stared at him. "Since when?" 

"Uh, since always?" Freddy exclaimed. "Alternate dimension, remember?"

The phone vibrated again, another call incoming from Peter. 

“Wha— what am I supposed to do about this?!” Billy gestured around with his hands. 

"Okay, well, he’s looking for you in New York, so you better get out there and get found!" Freddy gestured at the window, quickly walking over to it. "Quick, fly out and get found before Peter gets kidnapped or something!" 

"What? I don’t know the streets of New York! I’m going to get actually lost!" Billy yelped. 

"Okay, well, Peter knows the streets well. Just, you know, answer his call once you’re somewhere down on the streets." Freddy opened the window. 

“Also, I mean you could always fly back. Or call me. Or Google. Any of those works. I’ll be your designated man in the chair.” He flopped onto a gaming chair— also a new addition in this new universe— and spun around in a circle. "Besides, you can never get lost in New York City!" 

“Um, okay—wait, what does Peter even look like?” Billy stared at Freddy. 

“Uh— here!” Freddy dug through an open duffel bag that was sitting on his bed. He held up a Polaroid of other him and a boy—presumably Peter— laughing inside a grocery store. They looked so happy together, that Billy had to smile. 

His phone buzzed again with another call, reminding him that the poor boy was somewhere in New York looking for him.

”I should, well, I should go.” Billy quickly scrambled over to the window. 

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Freddy waved at him as he took off. 

He soared past a skyscraper, and waved to some tired looking dude at a computer. His mouth fell open, spilling notes on the floor as he stood up to gawk as Billy continued on. 

Billy did a loop in the air as he flew past more buildings, and let out a whoop. 

"Hey! On your left!" He suddenly heard a little voice shout, and he spun around to see a little red and blue blur rush past his left. He watched as the person stopped, and clung to the side of a skyscraper. 

"I’ve never seen you around before." The person is clad in a red and blue spandex suit, with a little spider emblem on the chest. The suit also had big white eyes, which were constantly zooming in and out. "I’m Spider-Man, nice to meet you!" He waved. 

"I’m, uh, Captain—" his brain stuttered, as he tried to find an alternate ending to his name to make it sound cooler. "Captain Marvel.” He deepened his voice, trying to sound more serious. “Yeah, yeah, um, I’m on a vacation? In New York. Yeah." 

"Huh, another Captain Marvel?" Spider-Man tilted his head. "Well, anyways, enjoy your visit to New York. I gotta go! Friendly neighbourhood spider stuff." He jerked his thumb behind him, and turned to leave. “Hope to see you around, Cap.”

"Oh! Wait— Wait mister, uh, Spider-Man, could you direct me to the general area of Central Park?" Billy quickly called out. 

“Central Park? Oh, it’s like five blocks down that way and then to the left!” Spider-Man nodded, then swung off. 

Billy flew above the crowded streets of New York as he came to a descent upon the sight of Central Park.

He quickly ducked under the doorway of the restrooms. He checked to make sure no one was in a five foot radius of him, then opened his mouth and yelled, “Shazam!”

He was pretty sure he left a decent-sized hole in the ceiling from the lightning strike. 

He left the restrooms as regular-sized Billy, dying in the summer heat in his red hoodie. He walked over to one of the picnic benches and sat down, wondering if he should text Peter or something.

(Billy was never the best at plans.)

“Billy?” 

His head immediately jerked up, and he saw a little red and blue figure sitting in a nearby tree. 

“Uh— Spider-Man?” His voice came out in a higher octave than usual.

Other him was friends with vigilantes too? That was pretty cool. 

“Dude, you’re okay!” Spider-Man jumped down and gave him a huge hug. 

“Uh— yeah. I am good.” Billy awkwardly disentangled himself from the other boy, trying to act casual. “Why— why wouldn’t I be?” 

Wow, he was stammering a lot. Damn you, communication skills!

”Well, a) Darla said you jumped out of your window? You live on the second floor— that’s a pretty huge jump. And well, you don’t have a scratch on you! Unless they’re all under your hoodie. B) you’re not even sitting in your usual spot and c) you’re not appreciating my spider hugs! You love my hugs dude!” Spider-Man huffed. 

Darla? Jumping out the window? Usual spot? Billy quickly drew the lines between the clues.

Who else knew about those oddly specific things? Peter Parker did. 

Peter was... Spider-Man?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got like 2% of the story figured out yeeyee 
> 
> bros sorry for this lackluster chapter my brain is dying >.>
> 
> kudos n comments motivate me to write faster òwó


	3. the other

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok just to clarify this is MCU! billy in this chap 
> 
> \- he doesn’t have Shazam powers  
\- doesn’t get along well with the family in the mcu  
\- he kinda aggressive and is still searching for his mom  
\- he curses like so much more than dceu billy (( iSt this aN eXcUse fo r mE to uSe bad wOrDds ?!??! :O ))

One moment, Billy was curled up on his bed, headphones on and reading up on some PadWatt story on his phone.

The next moment, it felt as if someone was stabbing the back of his skull with a thousand needles, an incessant pounding of drums in his head. His vision went hazy, dark spots dancing in front of his eyes. 

He felt the bed disappear from beneath him, and the sense of falling, limbs hitting nothing but air. A scream ripped free from his throat. His back hit a rocky surface, pain flooding through his body. 

As the throbbing subsided, his vision remained dark. He slowly got up, putting out one hand for balance to find a stone wall. Pushing himself up, the rock scraped his palm, drawing blood. 

His feet scrabbled against the gravel floor as he slowly backed up, studying the area. He squeezed his hands, feeling blood trickle over his fingers. 

Where was he? 

He could barely see in the dark, and blinked several times; waiting for his eyes to adjust. The faintest light shone from somewhere far above, barely illuminating the rocky surfaces around him. He hated the darkness, the constant threat that someone or something could be watching him, waiting to pounce as soon as he looked away. 

A gentle breeze tickled the corners of his ears, carrying the pungent smell of moss. 

His breathing quickened, the thrum of his heart throbbing in his ears. He swore he could’ve heard faint footsteps, and he stepped backwards slowly. 

Something suddenly latched onto his leg from behind, and he screamed, swinging his leg on reflex. 

“Billy! Found you— ow!" 

Darla was smiling, grin from ear to ear, clinging to his leg and not looking bothered by the fact they were in a dark cavern. 

“Darla—? Where the fuck am I?” He quickly shrugged the girl off, backing away. He ignored the fact that his heart was in his throat and that his stomach was in his mouth. 

Close contact was definitely number one on his list of things he hated. 

(Peter was the only exception to that rule.) 

“Hey, language!” Freddy appeared, laughing and out of breath, hobbling on his crutches. “Dang, you’re good at hide and seek. Should’ve known you had a good spot since you suggested we play in the lair. Now we have to do your chores!” 

Darla cheered. “Yay, congrats Billy!” 

”Your hand!” Pedro’s voice made Billy jump. The boy barely ever spoke, much less directly to him. 

“Oh, that’s nasty, dude! Did you fall?” Freddy immediately grabbed his hand, examining the injury. Billy let out a hiss of pain, as Freddy accidentally— or purposefully— pressed against the wound.

“You should definitely disinfect that. You know what infections can lead to? Death. That’s what.” Another voice chimed in, and Eugene poked his head into the crowd. 

Billy jerked his hand away, using the sleeve of his shirt to press down on the cut. Since when did any of them care? 

“No need to be so morbid.” Mary gently scolded Eugene. When did she come back from college? 

Billy stumbled backwards, away from the gathering crowd of his foster siblings, sweat beading on his forehead. “Okay... So... Where am I?” 

He had caught Freddy saying “lair.” Did his foster family seriously have a secret lair that they never told him about?

”Our lair? In one of the many, many passageways?” Freddy squinted at him, looking incredulous. “Did you hit your head on the rocks when you fell?” 

“I was on my bed. Reading. And uh, I fell off my bed? Now I’m here. In "our" lair?" Billy pressed his hand to his forehead, the throbbing returning. "Ow, fuck. Why does my head hurt so much?" 

"You did fall on your head!" Eugene exclaimed. "I bet that’s why your memory is acting up, you must’ve gotten a concussion of sorts and amnesia!" 

"Just get me the fuck out of this place." 

Billy had almost freaked out at least six times before they had gotten out.

The keyword was almost as he reminded himself he was with the rest of his foster family and fear showed weakness, so he kept it together. 

He left deep crescent-shaped indents in his palms, but it kept him from screaming. There was a huge knot of anxiety building up in his head, something kept screaming that things felt off. But what?

When they had finally left the lair, they had stepped out... of their storage closet. That was definitely a strange place to have your doorway to a secret lair. 

“Okay, let’s go treat that hand of yours.” Freddy grabbed his arm so suddenly, Billy’s hand automatically wrenched quickly it out of his grip, knocking the other boy back. 

“Oh—!” Freddy squeaked, nearly tripping over his own crutches. Eugene steadied him.

“Are you okay, Billy?” Mary was now staring at him, looking more concerned than ever. 

“Why are you guys acting so nice towards me?” Billy blurted. It seemed like an easier place to start than trying to start with the whole ‘falling off a bed and finding himself inside a secret lair.’ 

“What do you mean?” Darla questioned, eyebrows wrinkling. 

“We never, ever hang out with each other like a “family.” And now, we were all just in some creepy dark lair and I have no idea how I even got inside the lair in the first place!” Billy exclaimed, feeling the huge knot of anxiety suddenly unravel all at once, leaving him a wreck.

He bit his lip, feeling tears prick the corners of his eyes. Fuck, why was he suddenly acting like a baby? He hated the unsure feeling that everything wasn’t alright. Everything felt off and he couldn’t put his finger on it. 

“What?” Freddy looked at him, confusion and uncertainty flooding over his face. “Dude— you don’t remember going into the lair? Or hide and seek?” 

“Did you hit your head?” Eugene asked again. 

"He already said he didn’t. I mean we’d be able to see an injury!" Freddy retorted, rolling his eyes.

Everyone began talking, and the crescendos of voices battling each other made Billy panic. They were loud, to the point they could be yelling. They were practically arguing because of _him. _

_Breathe in, breathe out, okay, never mind I’m freaking out. Fuck._

”I’m sorry.” He whispered. 

He then turned and ran through the living room and out the front door, ignoring the voices calling after him.

There were several things that registered to Billy’s mind as he walked down a cluttered street. 

One, he wasn’t in New York anymore. These streets and buildings were all different and two, he was now utterly lost. Three, he didn’t have his phone for some reason, so he was very lost. Four, his hand was still bleeding and apparently the cut was deeper than he thought.

Running helped clear Billy’s mind, and as he had ran down the street and out into the city, he hadn’t really paid attention to much of the scenery around him. So now he was stuck in some shady street with no idea how to return home, and his hand bleeding out. 

What in the absolute fuck was going on?

Everything in this weird world didn’t make any sense. His foster home actually including him in as family; falling off his bed and appearing in a weird secret lair that came from the closet, and now New York had magically rearranged itself. 

This couldn’t be a dream, could it? His hand injury seemed pretty real and the constant head pounding also seemed like he was awake. 

Perhaps, he mused, he was stuck in some weird alternate dimension where he actually got along and wasn’t a huge disappointment to his foster family. God, wouldn’t that be stellar. 

He almost laughed out loud at the thought. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there’s some weird shit going on lolz
> 
> anyways some mO r E side notes:  
\- ok i wanna write mCU! billy having like some sort of crush on peter bc idk my brain said so or maybe I won’t write it idk my brain is on crack rn it’s 3 am  
-this Billy just overthinks too much  
\- this billy will have a 'darker' backstory of sorts i guess
> 
> also help me apparently me eng teacher showed my shitty analytical essay to the other eng classes ;; fUc k I can’t wait to go to English tmRw


	4. who are you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw this fic hit 100 kudos so here’s a chapter that was in the drafts for so long there are cobwebs growing everywhere,, iM SORRY ROR THE LONG WAIT
> 
> soo another mCU! Billy chap :)
> 
> tw for f cussing

Billy sat down on the edge of the curb, his head starting to spin again. 

“Fuck. My. Life.” He mumbled under his breath, trying to keep the earth under his feet from tumbling out of control. 

What the hell was up with all these random headaches?   
  
He pressed his hand up to his mouth, his fingers resting on the bridge of his nose. His other hand, he pressed into the fabric of his hoodie, hoping the shoddy material would help stem the bleeding. 

“Billy!” A deep voice boomed from above, and the boy toppled off the curb in fear. 

On reflex, Billy scrambled to find a weapon of some kind; finding a shard from a broken beer bottle and picked it up. The edges of the shard were quite sharp, and he almost scraped his own fingers. 

“Whoa— dude, chillax. It’s me.” 

He looked up to see a middle-aged man, with brown hair and dressed in a bright blue spandex suit with a lightning bolt insignia. The man happened to be also hovering a few feet of the ground, white cape fluttering in the faint breeze.

Okay, that was definitely weird. Billy didn’t know any middle-aged men— certainly not any middle-aged superheroes who didn’t bother concealing their identities and had a costume designed to look like a comic book character from the 80s. 

“Um, hello?” He squinted at the unknown man, tightening his grip on the glass shard. “Do I know you?”

The man quizzically titled his head, before dropping to the ground. He arched an eyebrow. "You... Uh, don’t remember me?" 

"Do you think I know you if I’m pointing this extremely sharp glass shard at you?” Billy shot back. His hand shook slightly as he held the shard, and he took a few steps back. 

The man looked around, then lowered his voice, “Well, it’s me. Freddy.” 

”Wait— what?” Billy squawked. “Freddy— um,” his brain scrambled to remember, ”Freddy Freeman?”

The older boy only confirmed this with a small nod.

”Freddy as in my foster sibling?”

His puny foster brother was a superhero? And also the fact he’d never seen the superhero around in New York before? He was learning so much weird and random information today. A secret lair, a brother who was secretly a superhero; what next? How much mind blowing things could he learn in one day? Next, Freddy was going to tell him that Peter didn’t exist, or he, himself was also a superhero. 

_Fuck. Ow. _  
  
Another slew of headaches came, and he squeezed the shard a little too hard and cut his fingers. He dropped the shard of glass and leaned against the building to steady himself. If only the headaches would leave him alone for one goddamn moment.

“What the actual fuck is going on?” Billy asked, pressing his bloody palm against his forehead. "Why are you all acting as if I knew all of this information already? Also what happened to New York?"

"Okay, well first of all, we're in Philadelphia, not New York. And, as far as I’m concerned I don’t think neither me or you have been there." Freddy moved closer to him, looking as though he expected Billy to collapse at any moment. 

“We’ve—“ Billy quickly cut himself off because clearly Freddy seemed intent on disagreeing with him like always, “I’ve always lived in New York so I don’t know why you keep talking about Philadelphia— also can you change back to your normal, little form or something? Just— you as an adult in tights doesn’t sit well with me.” 

Freddy looked slightly disgruntled by the comment but ended up looking around, and seeing no one, he yelled, “Shazam!” 

A huge flash of light, the smell of something sizzling and a loud cracking noise made Billy jump, and he promptly fell flat on his back. As the smoke cleared, it did turn out that, in fact, yes the man in tights was indeed his dear foster brother.   
  
Freddy held out his hand to help him back up, but Billy got up by himself, ignoring Freddy. 

“What kind of superhero call is that?” Billy snorted, quickly recollecting himself as best he could. “Shazam? Isn’t that an app that, like, listens to songs and tells you what the specific song is?” 

Freddy stared at him, as though he was waiting for something to happen. Billy stared at him back, and his face read _hello, why are you staring at me?_

“Okay, who are you and what have you done to Billy?” Freddy finally blurted out. 

“I am Billy! Billy Batson. What have you done to the Freddy I knew, who was just another weird crippled foster kid?” Billy burst out, feeling anger taking over. He immediately felt stupid for making that comment— he never prided himself as a bully in any way. 

Freddy’s mouth fell open at the remark, a tiny angry noise coming out. “Okay, you are definitely not Billy.” 

“I am.” Billy insisted, but his voice was now quiet. He felt his face flush. 

“I—“ Freddy started, but then seemed to change his mind. “Let’s just get you home.”   
  


Freddy turned back into the man in tights, and freaking flew them back. 

The feeling of flying could almost beat the swinging around New York, but swinging around New York meant he could cling as tightly as he could to Peter. With Freddy however, Billy felt like he was about to drop him at any moment.

Freddy dropped him off in the backyard, before backing away and yelled _Shazam! _again, then turned back into his normal self. 

Billy could almost kiss the ground in relief. He felt like he could trust Freddy even less than he had before, from this terrible flying experience. 

He ushered Billy into the house, where the rest of the foster kids were waiting for them. Darla rushed over to give him a hug, but Freddy intercepted her.

“This isn’t Billy." Freddy pointed at him. Upon hearing that, Pedro stepped protectively in front of Darla and Eugene. The whole lot of his foster siblings stepped back, until they were a couple of feet away, with Freddy standing in front of everyone else. 

"I am Billy Batson. How many fucking times do I have to tell you?" Billy crossed his arms. 

“Language.” Mary warned. 

“What do you mean?” Darla asked, scrunching up her face. “He looks like Billy— oh no! You’re one of those shapeshifting bad guys?” She let out a small gasp. Billy felt the urge to facepalm. 

”I knew something was off about him, when we found him in the cavern.” Eugene muttered, as he peered over Pedro's shoulder, studying Billy carefully. 

“Say S-H-A-Z-A-M.” Freddy talked over the two, staring at Billy. 

"What, Shazam? Again? Why?" Billy averted his gaze, and stared at his socks. The bright green contrasted against the cheery red of the wooden floor, and he shuffled one foot. He could feel the stares of his foster siblings burning holes into his skin. Emotions were beginning to bubble up inside of him. 

"See? Not Billy. This guy has no idea what s-h-a-z-a-m even is!" Freddy exclaimed, waving his hands about. "So, I'm going to ask you this once again; who are you?" 

Billy slowly raised his head up, clenching his fist. He was done with these ridiculous accusations.

He stared right at Freddy. "My name," he stated, taking a dramatic pause. "Is Billy Batson."

He took in a long breath. "I live in New York, in a foster home and share a room with someone who is obsessed with the Avengers." Maintaining eye contact with Freddy, he began to walk forward. 

"My mother is Marilyn Batson, and I keep running away to try and find her. My best friend is Peter Parker. Um, and I rarely talk to you guys so I don’t understand what’s going on!"

Standing only a step away from Freddy, he spoke. "So, here’s my question for you. Since when have you all been superheroes and have a fucking lair? Why are we suddenly living in Philadelphia? And why do you guys care so much about Billy Batson— me, anyways?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aim back did u miss me  
  
interesting, I like how I treat this story more seriously than all my other stories LoL but it’s good for my writing skills i guess
> 
> shorter chap bc most of this is older writing and I haven’t fallen back into writing groove quite yet :0

**Author's Note:**

> I write too many crossover fics with the mCU 
> 
> why? idk I came up with this idea at 1 am and finished this chapter at 2 am.
> 
> Let me know what you think about the story so far!


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